Description

ABOUT THE BOOK

Dorothy Day was an author and activist who fought tirelessly for women's equality and socialist causes during the early part of the 20th century as well as other social causes during the latter half of the 1900s. She also was one of the leaders of the Catholic Workers' Movement, which was the first organization to involve the Roman Catholic Church in social activism. Without Day's contributions to American history, modern America might be a very different country than most people know it to be, as she was instrumental in achieving freedom and equality for many groups of Americans.

Impressively, Day lived to be almost 100 years old and fought for social equality throughout her life. By studying her life, one can see the changing landscape of American society and the different issues that needed to be addressed to make America truly the free country it had been created to be. Dorothy Day fought for women's equality as a young woman and protested against the Vietnam War as an older one, making her a unique and interesting figure in American history. She lived through the women's suffrage movement, the Great Depression, both World Wars, the African-American civil rights movement and the Vietnam War — and was involved in social action related to all of these events.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Sidot Jean Avignon is an experienced writer and a member of the Hyperink Team, which works hard to bring you high-quality, engaging, fun content. Happy reading!

EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK

Although Day's commitment to Catholicism was extraordinary, she certainly did not live the traditional Catholic life. Her interest in Catholicism mainly sprung from the fact that it was a religion that gave help to the poor and needy. Her personal life, particularly her relationships, did not follow Catholic teachings regarding marriage, divorce and sex. Day was celibate and seemingly immune to sex in the early part of the 1900s, but in 1917 she met her friend Peggy Baird. Baird believed that sex was an important part of breaking down barriers between men and women that led to inequality, and to this end she recruited Day to be a nude model.

In 1919, Day married for the first and only time and dissolved the marriage a year later; however, that did not stop her from taking lovers. Sometime during the years between 1919 and 1924, she became pregnant and had an abortion, which she used as part of the basis for her first novel, The Eleventh Virgin. Also in 1924, she moved in with an anarchist named Forster Batterham. Batterham was opposed to both marriage and religion for political reasons.